Seattle
by TimbreWuulf
Summary: "Did you ditch the girl?" he asked. No, demanded. I froze, my hand on the deadbolt. "Dean!" Sam shouted, appalled. "I get it." I said quietly, and reached for the door handle. "Ace." Sam murmured, reaching to stop me. "Forget it." I spat, refusing to look back as I crossed the threshold.
1. Chapter 1

Seattle, Washington

I'd been travelling with them for a month, and had just about given up on my brother, Jake. I hadn't told either of them that I even had a brother, they probably would have dumped me somewhere if I did.  
We'd just finished ridding a local family of a nasty poltergeist. My first real hunt. And Sam and I, well I thought it up, but Sam went along with it. Anyway, we decided a victory dinner was called for.

"This is gonna be sweet!" I gushed, pulling a bag full of steaks from the backseat. Sam smiled, hefting a bag of potatoes and a twelve pack of PBR.  
"Yeah, this was a great idea. We don't really do this kind of thing very often." he said, nudging the door shut. I didn't say anything, by now I was used to their deprived lifestyle.  
With our hands full of groceries we walked up the small path to the cabin-style motel room. Sam juggled for the keys and managed to open the door without dropping anything.  
I kicked it shut behind me and dropped the plastic grocery bags in the kitchenette, going back to lock up. Dean was in the shower when we'd walked in and now I heard the water shut off.  
"Hey Sam, that you?" he called, and I glanced at Sam with a shrewd smile. As if he didn't know his little brother's footsteps by now.  
"Yeah Dean, it's me." he replied, in a "who the hell else would it be" tone of voice.  
There was a pause and I frowned, usually he would have cracked a joke by now. Something about us being gone for more than five minutes, alone with each other.

"Did you ditch the girl?" he asked.  
No, demanded.  
I froze, my hand on the deadbolt, the bottom dropped out of my stomach and it felt like ice water cascaded down my back.  
"Dean!" Sam shouted, appalled. The bathroom door opened.  
"What? She had to go Sam. We-" he stopped, I glanced at him. He was staring, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at me. Surprised.  
"I get it." I said quietly, and reached for the door handle.  
"Ace." Sam murmured, reaching to stop me. I shook my head, ripping the door open so fast the chain-latch snapped.  
"Forget it." I spat, refusing to look back as I crossed the threshold. I slammed the door behind me and took off at a dead run, surprised to find myself crying.

I didn't get very far, unfortunately.  
I'd gone about thirty yards when something crashed into me from the side, sending me tumbling to the ground. I felt blood trickling down my arm and tried to cover the gash. Sitting up, I glanced around, wishing I'd thought to grab my knife before I stormed out.  
"Show yourself!" I snarled, not sounding quite as menacing as I'd hoped. Something cackled in the darkness to my right, and a woman walked forward into the light of a streetlamp. As she passed underneath it, her eyes flashed, reflecting the light across their surface.  
"Vampire." I mused, narrowing my eyes. She grinned, shark-like teeth gleaming.  
"Gee, nothing gets by you, does it?" she sneered, walking a predatory circle around me.  
Apparently not, I thought watching her carefully, I would have known they wanted me gone if that were true.  
"What do you want?" I asked, and realized I sounded a bit uninterested.  
Great idea, piss off the creature five times stronger than you with no qualms about crushing your skull. Idiot!  
She looked offended, but answered anyway, sending ice through my veins.  
"Revenge."

I came-to somewhere cold and damp. A small flourescent bulb buzzed overhead, creating a tiny circle of light surrounded by darkness. I was underground, I guessed.  
The vampire had knocked me out, more than likely this was her den. Or part of it anyway. I was tied up, hanging from the ceiling by my wrists. My feet just barely touched the ground. It felt like the gash on my arm had stopped bleeding, but the way I was stretching didn't feel too great. I allowed myself a piteous moan and looked around.  
"Ah, you're awake." The vamp purred as she walked up from the shadows, something she apparently enjoyed doing.  
"So what's your plan, huh? Use me to draw out the boys?" I demanded, twisting my hands in the rope. She smiled, letting out a laugh that gave me chills.  
"You are a sharp one. And don't bother, that rope won't budge." She said, feigning surprise and then lapsing into a bored tone.  
"Yes, that's my plan. And when they come to save you, like all good little heroes do, I'll take them apart." She grinned, examining her clawed fingernails.  
"And...what about me?" I asked hesitantly, genuine fear making a last minute appearance. She glanced at me and struck in a flash. I screamed, her claws left four long gashes in my side. I wanted to curl up, my breath came in ragged whimpers.  
"The longer they wait, the worse it will be." she purred maliciously. I let my head fall back, hiding a tear from her.  
"How do they even know to look for me?" I asked, my voice cracking. She dug her clawed fingers into my thigh, and I bit back a cry, my head whipping forward.  
"Oh they'll know." she said, holding up something silver. My eyes widened and I glanced to my bare wrist and back again. She held my bracelet, the last thing my mother had given me. An almost undetectable shiver ran up my spine. Blood stained the little wolf, turning one of the emeralds a dirty brown color.  
She dropped it into a small envelope and licked the glue, sealing it with care. Then, with one blood-drenched claw, she carefully wrote 'To Sam and Dean Winchester' in lacy cursive.  
"Well, I suppose I should get this to them, huh? What with you bleeding everywhere." she said grinning coldly, then she twirled around and started away, licking her fingers.  
I bit my lip, fighting fresh tears. They wouldn't come for me. Sam maybe, but Dean? He'd said himself that I was dead weight, just not in so many words. Why would he be bothered?


	2. Chapter 2

Sam paced, waiting at the motel room hadn't been what he'd wanted to do, but Dean had insisted.  
"In case she comes back." he'd said, not that either of them thought she would. He still couldn't believe his brother, saying something like that when she was standing not five feet away.  
Ace was a good kid, and a damn good hunter, he didn't get why Dean would want her gone in the first place.  
The sound of an engine pulled him out of his thoughts and he stopped pacing, going to the door. Dean pounded on the other side just as he was sliding open the deadbolt, and he jumped aside. When his brother slammed the door open a second later he was glad he did, or his nose would have broken.  
"Dean, what-?" he stuttered, frowning in confusion. His brother's answer was a small envelope, signed in a dark mahoghany script, addressed to them.  
"Is that-?" he started to ask, Dean cut him off.  
"Blood? Yeah." he said quietly. Sam felt his stomach knot up.  
"What's inside?" he asked, dreading the answer. His brother hesitated for a moment. Then he ripped open the top and turned it over. With a flash something landed in the palm of Dean's hand. Sam felt his breath freeze in his chest.  
"That's..." he couldn't finish the sentence. The surface of the little silver wolf was stained a color that could only be blood. His fingers trembled as he reached to take the bracelet from his brothers hand. He cradled it in his palm as if it were something alive, and rubbed the stain from the silver.  
"There's a note..." Dean said, voice slightly hoarse. Sam glanced at the paper he held at arms length.  
"Is she alive? Does it say where she is?" he asked, snatching the page and skimming over it.  
'You want her back? Come and find her.' Sam read, and frowned. The words overlapped a printed drawing of a building. Squinting, he turned the paper to see better and let out a huff of air.  
"It's a lighthouse." he said, turning to Dean, "Probably that one outside town. Off on the cliffs." His brother didn't hesitate. He stormed out the door, leaving Sam scrambling for his jacket.

I had to have drifted out, because I was woken by a sharp pain in my side.  
"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." the vampire mused with a wicked smile. I did my best to lean away from her, teeth clenched against the pain.  
"No one's here yet. You know what that means." she growled, catching me in the side with a quick jab. I coughed, groaning. She circled around behind me, running her claws over my side as she went.  
"You know, this is so sad. I would much rather be doing this to one of them." She struck again, this time with claws, and a scream ripped it's way out of me.  
"But I suppose beggers can't be choosers!" her claws raked across my back and I choked on another cry. With another wicked smile she jabbed a single claw into my side and dug around, reveling in the scream the action forced from me. My head fell back, eyes clenched shut. I wanted her so dead right then.

"Ace!"

My head snapped upright and I stared toward the voice with wide eyes. No! my panicked mind screamed.  
"Sam?!" I yelled back, hoping it was my imagination.  
"Ace, where are you?"  
I glanced at the vampire, she was grinning maliciously. She wanted me to reply, I would lead them right to her.  
Right to their deaths.  
Like Hell I will!  
"Sam, run! Get out of here! She's going t-" she cut me short with a punch to the gut that made me gag.  
"We'll have none of that!" she hissed, emphasizing her words with a bruising grip on my chin, claws buried in the underside of my jaw. I couldn't help it, I screamed again.  
"She'll kill you! Run!" I yelled, and earned another punch, this one to the face. My left eye exploded white hot, and I felt my nose start to bleed. With a snarl, the vampire ran out of the room.I heard her making her way down a narrow passage and around a corner. Then it was quiet again. I let my head fall back and groaned. I hoped they got out alive.  
Of course, if they did I was dead. But honestly that thought wasn't bothering me.

I heard a scuff from the shadows ahead of me, and tensed, expecting an angry vampire.  
"Ace?" I froze. It was Dean. He came into my small circle of light and I felt a tear in my eye.  
"Dean." I half sobbed, wishing my hands weren't tied so I could hug the bastard. He rushed forward, hefting his machete.  
"Dean, where's Sam?" I demanded, the worry and panic clear in my voice. He didn't answer, sawing through the rope that held me, and catching me when my legs folded underneath me.  
"Dean?!" I badgered, watching him closely. He had that face that he always made when he was trying to hide something from me, or Sam.  
"He's fine Ace. He can take care of himself. Worry about you right now." he finally answered, half carrying me through the dark hall. He dragged me through a series of tunnels and through a door that opened out in some kind of field outside the city. The Impala was parked in the shadows and he helped me into the backseat before shutting the door and heading back.  
"Stay." was all he said. I didn't feel up to arguing. I found my jacket and zipped myself into it, laying out in the backseat and closing my eyes. I drifted in and out, jolting awake every time I realized I was asleep.  
Finally the door burst open and the brothers both stumbled out. Sam clutching his arm and Dean nursing a gash on his side. I started to move, an attempt to help them, but the simple motion of sitting up made me whimper, breathless.

Dean slid into the drivers seat with a grunt, and Sam climbed in the passenger seat silently. Their doors slammed simultaneously and I winced.  
"Is it dead?" I asked quietly, and Sam looked back at me, he had a strange, almost hurt look on his face and I looked at my lap, feeling guilty.  
"Yeah." Dean replied, and his voice made me cringe.  
"I'm really sorry guys." I murmured, and forced myself to grab the door handle. It opened with a whine, as if the car itself didn't want me to go.  
Before I could leave Sam leaned past me, closing the door and taking my hand off the handle. He reached into his pocket and pulled out my bracelet, slipping it over my hand to its rightful place on my wrist.  
"Ace, you're not going anywhere." Dean said, and I glanced at him, confused.  
"But, you said..." I mumbled, hand wrapping unconsciously around the silver wolf.  
"Change of plans." Dean said, turning to look at me over the back of the car seat  
"That vampire, " Sam said, and I looked at him again, "Apparently she thought we were related. Said our blood tasted too similar for us not to be."  
I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. Waiting for the, "Psyche! Had you going!" Or the, "Just kidding! Shoulda seen the look on your face!"  
But both remained stoic, and I felt like my heart was going to burst from my chest.  
"You...you mean...?" I broke off with a breathy sob, and covered my mouth. Suddenly I was crying like a child, breathless with sobs and laughter. Ignoring the pain, I threw my arms around Sam's neck and buried my face in his shoulder.  
"I'm not alone! I'm not alone anymore." I whispered, so happy I could have died. Dean put a hand on my back, rubbing a small circle with his thumb, and Sam ran a hand over my cheek, wiping away a few stray tears. They glanced at each other over my head, but I couldn't see their faces.  
Then reality set back in with a wave of pain through my stomach and back. My breath hissed through my teeth and I slipped off of Sam's shoulders, falling back onto the seat.  
"Oww..." I moaned, clutching my stomach. Sam chuckled, and Dean sighed in exasperation.  
"Alright, let's get outta here." he said, turning the key and throwing the car into gear. She roared happily as we pulled onto the road, and I sighed. All the pain in the world was worth what I had now, and I closed my eyes with a yawn. I slipped into unconsciousness, sprawled across the dark leather seat, my head pillowed on Sam's backpack.


	3. Chapter 3

Through the haze of half-consciousness I heard a quiet argument rising over the opening notes of 'Ace Of Spades'.  
"You know it's her favorite." Dean said, his voice hushed, and I turned my head toward them. Trying to force my foggy mind to focus.  
"Right now I really don't care. I'm so sick of Motorhead." Sam replied, and suddenly the music stopped. I sighed softly, rolling onto my back slowly, wincing. My body ached, the gashes along my back and ribs stinging. But that was my favorite song he just cut off. Sam shoved another cassette into the tape deck, and some slow, whining, boy-band started to croon out of the speakers. Dean groaned, disgusted.  
"Dude!" he complained.

Slowly, because it hurt more and more each second, I reached up and gripped the back of their seat. Struggling slightly with muscles too sore and damaged to want to comply, I pulled myself upright. My eyes narrowed, and my face pulled up in pain. Then my expression dissolved into my signature 'Murder-You-Gruesome'. I didn't turn my head a moment, studying him from the corner of my eye. Dean watched with an entertained expression on his face. Sam looked satisfyingly uneasy. Which made me want to grin. I still had it.  
"Hey...Ace." Sam said softly, hesitating mid-sentence as he glanced at Dean and then back at me. I didn't reply, but my eyes tightened. Suddenly I didn't feel so hot. My stomach turned over and my breath shortened. The boys frowned, starting to worry.  
"Sam...what is that?" I demanded, my voice rough. I pulled in a harsh breath and leaned toward their seat-back, my grip tightening until my knuckles went white. I turned my body toward him, slipping my feet off the seat.  
"Um..." he trailed off, confused, and glanced at the radio. Gritting my teeth, I stood, leaning over the seat and giving the volume knob a spin. The music dropped to a barely audible whisper in the background. Cautiously, I lowered myself to the seat, gingerly leaning back and letting my head drop back.  
It wasn't quiet for five seconds before the music was suddenly blasting out of the speakers. I winced. Clenching my jaw I snapped my arm out, catching Sam between the shoulder blades with my knuckles.  
"OW! What the-?" he snapped, turning to glare at me. I stared back at him, miserable.  
"It hurts to move Sam. Please don't make me get up again." I begged him. He didn't move, his brow slowly pinching in a frown. But Dean reached over and gave the dail a spin. The music quieted and I closed my eyes. Sam shifted and turned it up again. I sighed, my eyes opening halfway.  
I stared at the ceiling as a back and forth started up between them. Sam turning the music up, Dean turning the music down. I could only imagine the epic bitchface he was giving his...our...older brother.  
Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and it wasn't even the music that I got tired of. It was the fight. With a sigh, and a grunt of pain, I shoved myself over the back of the seat. Mashing the eject button so hard my finger bruised, I snatched the tape and chunked it out Dean's open window. Dean jumped in surprise, and Sam thumped my shoulder with a whiny, "Hey!"  
"Problem solved." I ground out, and let myself drop into the back seat. I landed with a hiss and clutched at my side, now flaring in pain. My back gave a similar flare and I let out a tiny pained noise, my breath uneven.  
"Um...Dean." I heard Sam say softly, his voice alarmed. And Dean breathed out a curse. The car slowed.  
"Ace?" Sam said a little louder, and I looked at him, grimacing.  
"Yeah..?" I replied, and my voice came out weak and breathy. My heartbeat pounded erratically in my chest, and my breaths came shallow, no matter how hard I tried to take deeper ones.  
"You're bleeding." he said, and I nodded, figured.  
"Yeah..." I said again, and took my arms away from my torso to unzip my jacket. When I opened it up, I bit my lip, and Sam cursed. Blood seeped through the holes in my shirt, the skin tattered underneath. He turned around, reaching over the seat and pressing my jacket against the wound. I yelped, the pressure multiplying the pain I was already in. He breathed an apology and glanced at Dean over his shoulder.  
"Pull over!" he pleaded.  
The Impala bumped to a stop on the side of the small farm road, and Dean climbed out of the driver's seat, running to the trunk. I watched him go, and then turned to Sam. A chill was working it's way into my hands and feet, and my head felt light. It hadn't taken me long to realize I'd been bleeding since the vampire's lair. Most of the blood had soaked into the jacket, but a lot of it had just fallen to the floor of the car, pooling in the mat. Draining through the bolt holes in the steel undercarriage.  
Dean reappeared at my door, wrenching it open with a creak and dropping to his knees next to me. In his hands was a metal first aide box. He set it on the ground next to him and nudged Sam's hands away from me. Gingerly, he opened up my jacket front. Then he swore and pressed his fist to his mouth.  
"Jesus Ace..." he breathed, and I bit my lip.  
"M'sorry Dean. I din' think it w'so bad." I murmured, my words slurring, my voice breathy. He shook his head and forced himself to smile at me.  
"No. No, it's okay. You're gonna be okay. We'll patch you up." he replied, reassuringly. I nodded jerkily, closing my eyes against a wave of nausea and dizzyness.  
Sam climbed into the back seat, settling next to me and helping me sit forward. With his help, I peeled off my blood-ruined jacket. When they saw the gash across my back, I heard them both swear, blowing out harsh breaths.  
"Looks like it's not as deep." Sam murmured, helping me sit back again. I whimpered as the torn muscles in my side ached and twisted. Dean gripped the ruined edge of my shirt and ripped it. I realized, a little too late, that this was going to be awkward for him. After all, my anatomy was a tad bit different. But his face remained stoic as he parted the fabric and surveyed what he had to work with.  
And then it hardened. By the way his mouth twisted I knew he wanted to curse again. I looked down, reaching up to press a hand to my side, just shy of the edge of the bloody mess. Which reallywas all it was. There seemed to be more exposed tissue and blood than skin. My jaw clenched and I dropped my head back against Sam's arm. There would be no "Patching me up", because there was no skin there to patch it up with.  
"Sam, hold on to her. We're goin to the hospital. She checks out on the way, you let me know." Dean said hurriedly, he grabbed the first aide kit and shut the door, running around the car and climbing back into the driver's seat, tossing the metal box into the seat next to him.  
Sam's arm came around my shoulders, pulling my body against his chest. I felt a flare of pain, and let out a small noise, but I was barely there anymore. The combination of blood loss, shock, and not enough sleep had me reeling. My vision tunneled in and out, blackening around the edges. There was a ringing silence in my ears, and my breath sawed in and out of my chest like something solid. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my lungs working, it seemed.  
The car hit a pot-hole, and the backseat bounced, hard. My body jarred painfully, and I yelped. My hands sought out something to cling to, and landed on Sam's jacket sleeve. I clutched at it, my eyes clenched shut as I gasped, pain lancing my gut in waves.  
"Just hold on Ace, we're almost there." I heard him say, and I tried to nod. My head jerked forward, and then fell back again. My grip started to loosen as the feeling started to leave my hands, and I lost my focus on making my lungs work. I gasped noisily, falling against his side bonelessly. He grabbed for me, his free arm curling around my torso.  
Faintly I could hear him calling my name, and I tried to look up at him. My vision blurred, but I could just make out his face, pulled up in fear and worry.  
"S...Sammy..." I breathed, and my heart pounded suddenly, slow and difficult. I clenched my jaw, my eyes squeezing shut, and whimpered.  
And then I felt like I was falling, my body going limp, and all around me it was dark.


	4. Chapter 4

The hospital staff almost didn't believe them when they showed up in the emergency room, shouting for help. Sam had made up a lie about a hiking trip, and a bear attack. Dean had simply pleaded for help, his sister unconscious and bleeding in his arms. Immediately the nurses had wheeled her away for emergency surgery. Leaving the two brothers standing in the lobby, covered in their sisters blood, and being prodded by the staff to fill out paperwork. And then later by the police to file a report.  
Sam had taken care of the police, after Dean had nearly come to blows with one officer when the man had tried to insinuate that what had happened was somehow his doing. Luckily, a nurse had shown up to ask them for a blood test, and Dean had been only too pleased to oblige.

He followed the pretty brunette down the hall to an exam room, still fuming over the officer's comment.  
"Just have a seat please, and take your coat off." she said softly, and he complied, slipping his long sleeved over shirt down his arms. Dropping it over the back of a chair, he perched on the edge of the exam table, glancing around the room.  
"So, what's this for?" he asked, and she looked over her shoulder at him. Then she turned, a pair of rubber gloves on and a rubber tourniquet in her hands.  
"No one said anything to you yet?" she asked, and he shook his head, frowning. She sighed, crossing to his side and tying the tourniquet around his bicep.  
"Your sister lost a lot of blood, Mr. Singer. She's going to need a couple of transfusions." she explained, crossing back to the counter and stripping open the plastic packaging around a needle shunt. Dean clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.  
"Oh." he said simply, and his voice was more of a growl. She looked up at him as she worked, placing labels on a pair of tubes. He glanced at her and she gave him a sad smile.  
"She's honestly lucky she has you two. If either of you is a match to her blood type she'll be in the clear. Our supply of O negative is short these days." she went on, and turned to him, "Okay, hold still."  
He looked away as she stuck him, filling both tubes before she untied the tourniquet and slid the needle free. She taped a bundle of gauze over the tiny wound and gave his shoulder a pat, smiling at him.  
"Thank you very much." she said, and he nodded, his mouth twitching toward a smile. As he stood, he grabbed his over shirt and slid it back on. She stopped him as he was stepping out the door, and he glanced back one last time.  
"Can you send your brother to me? I need a sample from him also." she said, peeling her gloves off.  
"Sure, no problem." he replied, nodding and walking away. When he finally got back to Sam the police were gone and his brother was slumped in a chair, staring at the floor.  
"Hey." Dean barked softly, and Sam's head snapped upright. He stood and met him halfway across the lobby.  
"What's up? What did that nurse want?" he asked, eagerly pelting him with the questions. Dean held his hands up to slow him down and looked around. He didn't know why, there were no threats here, he just chalked it up to old habit.  
"They need a blood sample from you. They already got mine. She said they need to test it, see if we're transfusion compatible. Ace...she lost too much, Sam." Dean explained, and as he said it he felt his chest clench painfully. Sam's face reflected his own feelings, and his brother nodded.  
"Okay. Which room?" he replied, and Dean gave him a proud smirk. Then he gave him a hard pat on the arm.  
"C'mon, I'll show you." he said, and turned back the way he'd come, Sam trailing just behind him.

"Can you...do me a favor?"  
The nurse paused as she was taping the gauze over the needle mark on his arm. Sam gazed up at her, his puppy dog face deepening, and she smiled.  
"Sure sweetheart, what do you need?" she replied, stripping off her gloves as she crossed the room. He shifted, pulling his jacket back on, and bit his lip as he tried to figure out the best way to phrase his request.  
"Um...We, just found out, that she's our half sister...but..." he trailed off and the nurse glanced over her shoulder at him.  
"But you're not so sure?" she supplied, and he nodded, his expression a little ashamed. He felt bad for questioning it, but he didn't like the idea that his dad had slept around behind their backs.  
"So you'd like me to run a test, and find out for sure?" she went on, and he nodded again. She smiled and he returned the gesture.  
"Not a problem." she said softly, and he stood, sighing half in relief and half in exhaustion. He couldn't even remember how many hours he'd been awake, but he knew that they'd left the motel just before sundown. And according to the clock on the wall, they had a half hour until dawn.  
"Thank you." he said tiredly, and she nodded. He slipped out into the hall and made the long trek back to the lobby, spotting his brother slouched in a chair near the bathrooms. Dean looked up as he approached and Sam gave him a stolid smile before he slumped to the chair next to him.  
"Anything?" he asked quietly, and Dean shook his head. Leaning back, the older Winchester dropped an arm over his eyes.  
"No, she's still in surgery." he said gruffly, and Sam swallowed hard around the lump that seemed permanently lodged in his throat. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling for a long while.  
"This is taking too long, Dean. Somethin's gotta be wrong." he said suddenly, sitting up and looking down at his brother. Dean sighed and sat up, gazing back at him.  
"No, Sam. It's gonna be fine." he said forcefully, and Sam shook his head, his face pulling up unhappily.  
"How can you know that?" he demanded, his voice straining on emotions he had managed to keep in check until now. Dean just sighed and sat back in his chair.  
"I don't. Not for sure. But I have to believe it. Because..." he trailed off, his voice rough, and Sam watched him, waiting. Dean cleared his throat, swallowing.  
"Because we're all she's got. She needs us to be there for her." he finally said, and looked away, down the hall. Sam stared at him for a moment, incredulous.  
"Really? Dean? Because yesterday you wanted me to get rid of her." he snapped, and his brother looked at him, scowling.  
"Yeah, well. Yesterday I didn't know she was family, alright? Yesterday I thought she was just a normal girl, who didn't need to live this life. And who was gonna get herself, or one of us, killed! Okay? That's why I wanted you to let her go. I didn't want..." he stopped suddenly, realizing he was almost yelling. Closing his eyes for a moment, he drew in a calming breath.  
"I didn't want her to end up like Mom, or Dad. Or Jessica. Okay?" he said quietly, and Sam shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. Dean stood, pacing a few feet away and pausing. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.  
"I'm sorry, Dean." Sam said quietly, and he glanced at his brother. His face was a mask of mixed emotions. Pity, sympathy, sadness, regret, remorse. But also understanding, and acceptance. Dean nodded slowly, and looked away, down the hall again. Then he startled and glanced at his brother before looking back.  
A doctor was hurrying toward them from the direction of the OR. Sam stood, striding over to his brother's side as the doctor neared, and they exchanged worried looks. The doctor didn't look happy about whatever he needed to tell them. He reached them and took a moment to catch his breath.  
"So, what's the news Doc?" Dean demanded, once it looked like the man could speak. The doctor nodded, holding up a clipboard and skimming over it.  
"Well, it's good and bad. Good news is, your sister is going to be okay, eventually. The bad news is she's got a long road ahead of her. Unfortunately the animal didn't leave us much to work with, so we've had to graft skin from her legs to close the wounds on her stomach and ribs. We've also had multiple x-rays taken. She has a hairline fracture across the scapula on her left side. Three shattered ribs, also on her left side. And massive bruising to most of her internal organs." the doctor explained. The boys absorbed the information with increasing unease.  
"She's lost a massive amount of blood. And we're still waiting on the test results for you two. We should get those in the next half hour or so. When we do, we're going to need a full pint for the transfusion. Which is going to leave you pretty dizzy, and probably a little nauseous afterward. Uh, have either of you eaten in the last twelve hours?"  
The boys frowned and shook their heads, and the doctor sighed.  
"Yeah, you're definitely going to be dizzy afterwards. Um, aside from all of that, once we get the blood to her we should be able to move her to a room. We're keeping her over night for observation, and I'd like to be able to keep an eye on whichever of you donates as well. Wouldn't want something to happen to you. So I'll make sure that you two can stay with her tonight."  
He finally stopped talking and smiled at them for a moment before he turned and strode away, back down the hall. Dean and Sam stared after him, bewildered at his quick, cheery tone. A nurse met him halfway down the hall and handed him a set of papers. He thanked her and then said something else, pointing back at them. She nodded and started toward them, the doctor continued on his way.  
As the nurse reached them she smiled.  
"So, which of you is which?" she asked cheerily. Dean frowned and Sam glanced at him.  
"I'm Dean, this is Sam." Dean supplied, and the nurse took hold of his arm.  
"Okay Dean, you're coming with me. And Sam, I was told this was for you." she said, and held out a sheet of paper for Sam to take. He snatched it, scanning it quickly and feelig a simultaneous rush of disappointment and relief. He looked up at Dean and set his mouth in a grim line.  
"What is that?" Dean demanded, and Sam held it out to him. He looked it over, his frown deepening.  
"It's proof." Sam said, and Dean gazed back at him, "There's no doubt about it now. She's a Winchester."  
The nurse cleared her throat, grabbing their attention, and Dean glanced down at her.  
"I'm sorry to rush, but you're the only one with her blood type. She needs you." she said quietly. He nodded, letting her lead him away down the hall, and threw one last glance at his brother.  
Sam folded the paper and pocketed it, crossing back to the chairs and slumping down in one. He dragged a hand down his face, unsure whether to be happy, or upset. He had always kinda wanted a younger sibling. But finding out his dad had been sleeping around, after his mother had died, it made him more than a little uncomfortable.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam glanced up as his brother approached. Dean was pale-faced, and he walked slowly, his jaw clenched. But it was the expression on his face that made him stand, meeting him at the mouth of the hallway. It had been nearly a half hour since the nurse had taken Dean away, and Sam had felt like he was out of patience.  
"What's up?" he quieried as Dean reached him and stopped to lean against the wall. The older Winchester ran a hand down his face, shaking his head slightly. Then he shoved off the wall and made his way to the bank of chairs, plopping into one and slouching in it.  
"Just...something the Doc told me...it's bothering me." he explained, grimacing and glancing back down the hall. Sam sat down next to him, leaning forward in the chair and bracing his arms against his thighs.  
"Care to elaborate?" he said, curiousity piqued. Dean hesitated, staring down the hall for a moment before he turned to his brother.  
"Doc said she had some broken bones right?" he said, and Sam nodded, "Well, he also told me some of 'em had scars."  
"Like they'd been broken before." Sam murmured, and Dean nodded.  
"Right. He also said she had scars on her body. Knife wounds, burns. That kind of thing. I mean, it's almost like..."  
"Like she was abused." Sam spat, unable to believe what they were saying. Dean fell silent, glowering at the wall ahead of him. Sam sat back, sighing.  
"She...she keeps mumbling...that she's had worse," Dean blurted, and his hands clenched into fists, "Who the hell could do something like that to a kid?" Sam shook his head, at a loss for words. To him, it just figured that with the Winchester history, their sister wouldn't have escaped their bad luck. He glanced up at the approach of a doctor holding a thick folder.  
"You two should see this." he announced, indicating the contents of the folder. The brothers glanced at each other and stood, following the old man down the hallway.

"We took the liberty of taking full body x-rays. You won't be billed for these. They'll go on hospital record." he explained. This doctor was different than the man who'd taken care of their sister. He was very no-nonsense, and Sam was beginning to like him. The old man took a set of films from the folder he'd been carrying and set them on the table in the center of the small room. With a click, the table lit up, and they could see the highlighted skeleton on the films. The two of them watched as the doctor rearranged the negatives until they were laid out in the proper order. Their sister's entire skeleton, puzzle peiced together, on top of the table.  
Sam gaped, and Dean swore.  
It was clear that every bone in her body had been broken at least once. Some of them had the uneven, lumpy look of a break that was never properly set, confirming their suspiscions that she'd been abused. Several of her ribs hand been shattered before. And even the ones that were currently broken had the brightened, ghostly lines of previously healed fractures. The last three knuckles of both her hands had been repeatedly shattered, and her left wrist sported metal pins. A dark smudge on her left scapula drew Sam's attention and he frowned.  
"What is that?" he asked, glancing at the doctor and pointing the smudge out. The doctor raised his eyebrows and sighed.  
"So far as I can tell? It's the tip of a knife blade. From the amount of scar tissue around it, looks like it's been there for years." he explained, glancing down at a notepad he was holding.  
"Doc," Dean murmured, walking slowly around the table, "Is that a metal plate...in her arm?" The doctor nodded and Dean looked over at his brother, eyes wide in anger.  
"There's also one here at the base of her skull. And pins in her lower jaw. It's almost as if she had the surgeries, and then never followed up to have them maintained." The doc went on, indicating the brighter or darker shapes on the films.  
"Most of her organs show signs of massive scarring and trauma, and the one's that don't, show signs of past bruising. It's honestly a wonder that this girl, your sister, is even alive." Sam and Dean glanced at each other, took one last look at the films, and left the room.  
Ace had some explaining to do.

I drifted in and out for a while, catching blurred shapes and snatches of conversation. Nothing that made any sense to my sleep fogged mind. But after a long time, or a short time I couldn't really tell, the anesthesia wore off and I could focus again.  
It was dark outside when I finally looked around, and the lights were turned low in the room. But even in the half light I could make out the shapes of Sam and Dean, one slumped across the rooms only chairs, and the other stretched out on the spare bed. Both of them snored lightly. I smiled and started to sit up. The breath hissed through my teeth as pain bloomed across my front and back. And I fell back to the pillows, my hand flying to my side.  
"You shouldn't move." Sam said quietly, disentalging himself from the chairs and walking to my bedside. He reached out and rested a hand on my forehead a moment. Then he took his hand away and pressed a button on the side of the bed. The head raised until I was almost upright. I smirked and let my body sag against the soft bed.  
"That's pretty cool." I said, and my voice was hoarse from disuse. For a moment I wondered how long I'd been asleep.  
"Here." Sam said quietly, and I looked over to see him holding a cup of water for me. I took it with a shaking hand and sipped, resting it on my lap between both hands.  
"My voice sound that bad?" I joked, and when he didn't even chuckle I looked up at him again. He was brooding over something. Something that made his eyes dark, and his brow knit together in a scowl.  
"Sam? What's wrong?" I murmured, reaching over to touch my fingers to the back of his hand. He turned his palm upwards and wrapped his massive fingers around my tiny ones.  
"Ace..." he hesitated, unsure, and I turned my head toward him to listen.  
"Before...before you came with us...was your life...happy?" he asked. I felt a chill in my chest, pooling down into my stomach. Did this mean...Did they really want me gone after all? But we were family. They were all I had left. What was I gonna do without them?  
"Wh...why do you ask...?" I stuttered, my mind racing with questions and what if's. He shifted and threw a glance at his brother. I felt my breath start to quicken, and a pounding rythm tore around inside my chest. Somewhere in the background an annoying beeping started up, an alarm clock sound accompanying it. My chest started to ache as my breath heaved in and out, hyperventilating. I clutched at my chest, the pain making me whimper, and sat forward. My eyes clenched shut, and I heard Sam talking to me.  
"Ace? It's alright, hey! Look at me, Ace! Calm down. Everything's gonna be fine, just breathe!" he was frantic. I felt his hand on my back, and with his other he took the cup of water from my lap. And then he was cupping my face, forcing me to look at him. My eyes came open, tears burning the edges, and he gazed back at me. His eyes held fear, and concern, and a hint of remorse.  
"Ace. It's okay." he said slowly, his thumb stroking across my cheek softly. I swallowed hard, wincing and nodded.  
"Can't...breathe..." I gasped, and ducked my head as a sharp pain stabbed across my ribs. Dean stirred, and then rocketed out of the bed, alarmed.  
"What the hell happened?!" he demanded, and his harsh tone made me flinch. I whimpered, curling in on myself defensively.  
"Dean!" Sam scolded, glaring over his shoulder at him. He turned back to me with a desparate look.  
"Ace, c'mon. You can do this, just breath slow. Okay?" he murmured. I leaned my head on his shoulder and gasped for a moment. Dean eased around the bed, his hands slowly unclenching from fists. He knelt across from Sam and threw him an apologetic look.  
With some effort, I managed to slow my breathing, my chest flaring randomly with sharp, peircing pains. Finally, I laid back against the soft bed and sighed.  
"I'm sorry..." I breathed, and winced as another pain sliced across my chest. Sam shook his head and Dean reached out, taking hold of my hand.  
"What happened?" he asked quietly. I shook my head, and looked over at him.  
"I don't know. I got scared...and then my chest hurt...and then I couldn't breathe..." I replied, and cut off, another pain making me wince.

Dean looked over at Sam and sighed.  
"It's alright. You feelin okay now?" he asked, giving their sister's hand a soft squeeze. He glanced at Sam, shooting him a question in a look.  
'What did you do?'  
Sam shrugged, he had no idea. Ace was still, her eyes closed and her breathing slow.  
"Ace?" Dean said worriedly, standing to lean over her.  
"Alyssa. That's my full name." She said suddenly, her eyes coming open. She nearly flinched, he was so close to her, but she held it back. Dean straightened and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. He glanced at Sam and back again. Ace smirked, remembering, and fiddled with the blanket.  
"My mom, her name was Emily, she used to...call me Ally. But...I always hated that name. So my dad..." Suddenly she shook, and Dean recognized it as a shiver of fear. He frowned.  
"He told Emily, and my brother Jake, to give me a new nickname. And Jake...he started calling me Ace. I was always a better shot than him..." She went quiet, and Sam and Dean exchanged confused frowns.  
"Wh...when you asked me...if my life was happy before. Was it because you regret letting me come with you...Or was it something else?" she asked softly, and looked up at Sam. He sighed, swallowed, and clenched his jaw, unsure what to say.  
"Because...if you really don't...want me around...I can go." she went on, and Dean shook his head, pacing to the foot of the bed and back. He stopped and braced his hands on the edge of the bed.  
"No, Ace. We're family. Family doesn't just ditch family. We stick together. No matter what." He growled out, and his tone made her want to shrink.

I stared at Dean for a moment, feeling like a deer caught in headlights.  
"But...I heard you...in the motel. You wanted me gone." I said softly, hurt. He shook his head and stood up.  
"No, I wanted you safe!" he corrected, his finger pointed at me scoldingly.  
"I told Sam that we needed to find someplace you could live, and not have to be part of this life." he added, and I dropped my gaze to my lap.  
"Then why did you ask about my life?" I murmured, and looked over at Sam. He didn't have a chance to reply, Dean interjected angrily.  
"Because! Your body's been busted up worse than both of us put together. And we've been huntin monsters our whole lives!" he spat, and I flinched at his harsh tone. Sam scowled at him disapprovingly, but he nodded.  
"Ace, we saw the x-rays. The broken bones, the metal plates." Sam began, and Dean cut him off again.  
"The knife tip in your shoulder blade!" he snapped, and I shivered again, grimacing.  
"Ace, what the hell happened? I thought you said you were happy with your family." Sam put in, and I looked up at him.  
"I was. Really. But that was only after..." I trailed off and looked away, down at my lap again. I took a deep breath and sighed.  
"Emily was my adopted mother. My real mother died after I was born. I was two years old, and my brother Jake was six, when she and her husband took us in. And things were perfect for a while..."  
"But that didn't last?" Sam asked, and I nodded.  
"Emily's first husband...his name was Bret. He was a drinker, smoker, shooter. You name it, he was probably hooked on it. He loved Emily, to death. Worshipped her. But he hated my brother and me with a passion. She was terrified of him, but he never laid a finger on her. Jake and me...to him, I was fair game, and Jake was in the way." I trailed off, and Dean ran a hand down his face. Sam laced his fingers together and pressed them to his mouth, staring hard at the blanket.  
"It went on until I was about twelve. He would chase me, corner me, beat me. Unless Jake was around, then it became a game. To see how long he could hit him before Jake couldn't fight anymore. God...there were so many times I thought he was gonna kill him. But Jake just kept going...And then, there were days when I'd get out of school, and he'd just be sitting there in his car. Waiting for me. And I...just knew...it was gonna be one of those days..." I trailed off, my eyes wide as I stared at the foot of the bed, unconsciously rubbing my fingers across the back of my right hand.  
"The worst part...is that, he started out as such a nice guy. By the time he changed, I had already started to love him...it's hard to describe...what it feels like, when someone you love...suddenly wants to kill you...And he did want to kill me. He even came close a few times. He...tried to drown me...broke my arm and dropped me in the pool, I didn't know how to swim. It was like it was a sport to him." I blinked, pausing as I realized my eyes were stinging with unshed tears. Ducking my head and swallowing against the lump in my throat, I dragged a hand across my eyes before I went on.  
"And then one night...the cops kicked our door in. Apparently someone pointed fingers, and he was named. They cleaned out the house, hauled him off to state pen. I think he's still there, I don't know. All I cared was that the beatings stopped."  
"What about the newer ones? Some of those aren't even a year old yet?" Sam asked, frowning at me. I smirked, glancing up at him.  
"I, uh. I fought a lot, in highschool. I was the girl with no parents, and a druggie freak for a stand in dad. My classmates had a field day once they found out." I explained, and chuckled. And then immediately wished I hadn't when my chest flared in pain. I winced, pressing my hand against my ribs.  
"Plus I had a little sister to protect, Emily had a daughter with Bret, about five years before he went away. He never touched her either. And if he tried he had to go through me first." I went on, and Dean frowned.  
"Why'd you bother?" he asked, and I looked up at him, surprised, and a little apalled.  
"Because it wasn't her fault the man was a bastard." I replied, and he looked away, realizing his mistake.  
"I took care of her like she was blood. I always had her back, at home, at school. Hell, I was the one that had to chauffer her little friends when they all went to the mall or something. But she was a good kid, she didn't deserve that sonofabitch for a dad.  
"So yeah. I looked out for her. That knife in my shoulder? I took that for her. Some Jock, tryin to beat her up for her lunch money. Stereotypic as all get out. I jump in, he starts swinging. I start winning, he pulls a knife on me. Stabs me in the gut, busted somethin open. Hurt a hell of a lot worse than these broken ribs, lemme tell ya." I said, gesturing to my chest and shaking my head.  
"Did you win?" Dean asked suddenly, his eyebrows high. I smirked and then snorted out a short laugh.  
"Put his head through a car window. Rearranged his face real nice. Guy dropped out of school and never came back. I heard he got plastic surgery, but I never saw him again, so who knows. Mae, my little sister, helped me get to the hospital. Emily was a nurse there, so anytime I got in a fight I ended up there. That was actually how she met her second husband, Mitch. He was a trauma surgeon, he glued my liver back together once...still don't know how he did that. Anyway, it helped, having both parents in the medical field."  
"I'll bet." Dean said blandly, he was clearly not happy about any of this. I sighed, and then gave a little groan when some bone resettled.  
"Honestly, the only lasting effects are mental. My body has always healed fast, and it's good as new once it does. I get nervous about certain things. Yelling, angry people, hostility. It only really acts up when I'm hurting.  
"And I am afraid of the dark. Terrified...actually." I paused, staring at my lap for a moment, and Dean frowned, confused. Sam looked up at him over my head, surprised, and Dean nodded agreement.  
"I have nightmares too, from time to time. But usually they're not that bad...usually. Then again, who here can say they don't have nightmares?" I trailed off jokingly, and they stared at me. Neither one looked to be in the joking mood. I sighed, and twiddled my thumbs.  
"Look, I'm sorry I never said anything about it. But you have to understand, I buried that stuff years ago, and I told myself I was never bringing it up again. The fighting sure, that's recent. And that's my own doing. But...the things that man did to me...there aren't words." my voice tightened, and the age old fear crept up my spine. I closed my eyes and fought down the shudder ripping it's way up my back, clenching my fists.  
"Just thinking about it...I'm terrified again..." I breathed, and opened my eyes to look at them in turn. Dean's jaw tightened and Sam looked at his brother, his expression pained.  
Dragging a shaking breath, I reached up and covered my face with my hands. And then winced, a dull ache reminding me that my nose was broken and my eye was bruised bone deep. Dean dropped his hand to my shoulder, and I looked over at him.  
"I'm sorry." he said gruffly, and his grip tightened slightly. I stared at him for a moment, and then I sighed, smiling. Gripping his hand with my own, I nodded.  
"We won't ask again, Ace. We just...we were worried." Sam said softly, and laid a hand on the edge of the bed. I took hold of it and squeezed, turning my smile on him.  
"Thank you...for that." I said softly, and felt a tear rolling down my cheek.  
"Yeah, well. That's what big brothers are for." Dean said suddenly, his voice gruff and surly. I laughed lightly, and was surprised when my chest didn't flare in pain. I was healing already.  
"Yeah." I said, and grinned at him. He smirked back, and I knew we were going to be okay. The speedbump of my history was behind us, and the new paved road ahead was just waiting to be ruined with pot-holes of good fights and the loose gravel of silly arguments.


End file.
